David S. Ware

His tenor saxophone can sometimes lead to exalted journeys through new sonic territory, but with David S. Ware's playing it's the ride that matters. Unlike many Free Jazz players, Ware has taken the most difficult path, choosing -- like his onetime lead pianist Cecil Taylor -- to know the traditional rules of music before proceeding to break them down into pulpy little bits. His meaty tenor tone can squeal into high harmonic registers or fly through a frenzy of tumbling chromatic notes before breaking free into a soaring run that brings the hairs on your neck to attention. His excellent band consists of pianist Matthew Shipp (who plods and plonks like a charged Alice Coltrane) and either Marc Edwards, Susie Ibarra or Whit Dickey on drums, seething and boiling in a rhythmic tug-of-war with bassist William Parker.